Tag Archives: resurrection

August 19, 2026 · 10:06 am

The Joy of the Whole Earth: Psalm 48 and the New Jerusalem

The Mountain of God and the End Declared from the Beginning

Psalm 48 stands as one of Scripture’s luminous windows into the destiny of God’s children. It is a psalm where the earthly Zion becomes translucent, revealing the heavenly Zion behind it—the New Jerusalem, descending from God out of heaven. The psalmist sings of a city whose glory exceeds the boundaries of history, whose permanence defies the rise and fall of nations, and whose beauty anticipates the consummation of all things.

“Great is Yahweh, and greatly to be praised in the city of our God, in His holy mountain.” (Ps. 48:1)

This is not merely a celebration of ancient Jerusalem. It is a prophetic declaration of the end from the beginning. The psalmist beholds Zion not only as she was, but as she shall be—established forever, radiant with divine presence, the joy of the whole earth.

The earthly city was the shadow; the heavenly city is the substance. Psalm 48 is the Spirit’s whisper of Revelation 21 long before John saw the city descending in glory.

II. Beautiful for Elevation: The Joy of the Whole Earth

The psalmist continues: “Beautiful for elevation, the joy of the whole earth, is Mount Zion… the city of the great King” (Ps. 48:2). No earthly Jerusalem has ever been the joy of the whole earth. But New Jerusalem is described precisely this way: “The nations of them which are saved shall walk in her light” (Rev. 21:24).

Psalm 48 lifts our eyes beyond geography to eschatology [having to do with the time of the end].  Zion’s “elevation” is not merely topographical—it is spiritual, eternal, and cosmic. It is the city where God dwells with humanity, where righteousness reigns, where the Lamb is the lamp, and where the redeemed abide forever. The psalmist sees what Abraham saw: a city whose builder and maker is God.

III. God Known in Her Palaces: The Manifest Presence

Psalm 48:3 declares: “God is known in her palaces as a refuge.” This anticipates the climactic promise of Revelation: “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them.” (Rev. 21:3) In the earthly Zion, God was known through temple rituals, sacrifices, and shadows. In the New Jerusalem, God is known face‑to‑face. His presence is not mediated through priests or altars; it is immediate, radiant, and abiding.

This is the fulfillment of the abiding promise:

  • “Abide in Me, and I in you.” (John 15:4)
  • “We will come to him and make Our abode with him.” (John 14:23)

Psalm 48 sings of a city where abiding becomes permanent, unbroken, and glorified.

IV. The Kings of the Earth and the Terror of Glory

Psalm 48:4–6 describes a mysterious scene: “The kings assembled… they saw it and were troubled… fear took hold upon them.” This is not merely historical memory. It is prophetic foreshadowing.

The kings of the earth will one day behold the unveiled glory of God’s city and tremble. Revelation 6 echoes this: “The kings of the earth… hid themselves… for the great day of His wrath is come.” Psalm 48 anticipates the final confrontation between the kingdoms of this world and the kingdom of our God. Zion stands immovable; the nations tremble. The city of abiding becomes the city of judgment, where divine righteousness is revealed and human pride collapses.

V. The Ships of Tarshish and the East Wind of Judgment

Psalm 48:7: “With the east wind You break the ships of Tarshish.” Tarshish represents the farthest reaches of human commerce, strength, and ambition. The east wind symbolizes divine intervention—swift, sovereign, irresistible.

In the eschatological vision, all human systems that exalt themselves against God are shattered. The New Jerusalem is not built by human hands; it is established by divine decree. The psalmist sees the collapse of earthly power before the rising of heavenly glory.

VI. “God Will Establish Her Forever”: Eternal Zion

Psalm 48:8 proclaims: “God will establish her forever.” Earthly Jerusalem has been destroyed, rebuilt, besieged, and divided. Only the New Jerusalem fits the description of a city established forever.

Revelation 21:2: “The holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven.” Psalm 48 is not nostalgia; it is prophecy. It is the Spirit’s assurance that the dwelling place of God will one day be unshakable, eternal, and filled with His abiding presence.

VII. Walking About Zion: The Pilgrimage of the Redeemed

Psalm 48:12–13 invites: “Walk about Zion… consider her towers… tell it to the generation following.” This is not mere sightseeing. It is covenantal inheritance. In the New Jerusalem, the redeemed will walk its streets, behold its foundations, marvel at its gates, and drink from its river. They will see the architecture of salvation, the geometry of grace, the symmetry of divine wisdom. The psalmist’s invitation is eschatological: Come, behold the city prepared for the abiding ones.

VIII. “He Will Guide Us Over Death”: The Promise of Resurrection

Psalm 48 concludes: “For this is God, our God forever and ever; He will guide us over death.”

The Hebrew phrase for “over death” carries the sense of being led through death or beyond death. It is resurrection language. The God of Zion is the God who leads His people through the valley of the shadow into the light of eternal life. The New Jerusalem is the city where death is abolished: “There shall be no more death.” (Rev. 21:4) Psalm 48 ends with resurrection hope—just as Revelation ends with resurrection reality.

IX. Zion and the Theology of Abiding

Psalm 48 is not merely about a city; it is about a people in whom God dwells. Zion is the eschatological expression of abiding. It is the consummation of John 15, the fulfillment of John 14:23, and the eternal realization of Emmanuel—God with us.

In Zion:

  • Abiding becomes permanent.
  • Presence becomes visible.
  • Judgment becomes righteous.
  • Pilgrimage becomes inheritance.
  • Death becomes passage.
  • God becomes all in all.

Psalm 48 is the song of the abiding ones, the anthem of the redeemed, the prophecy of the city where God and humanity dwell together forever.

X. Conclusion: The City of Our God, Forever and Ever

Psalm 48 is a glimpse into the future of the people of God. It is a prophetic vision of the New Jerusalem, the city of abiding, the joy of the whole earth. It declares the end from the beginning, revealing the destiny of those who dwell in God and in whom God dwells.

This is our God. This is our city. This is our inheritance. This is abiding, consummated and glorified. kwh

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April 23, 2026 · 8:48 am

Dying With Christ, Living Through Him: The Miracle of the New Nature

It is not enough to believe that Christ died, was buried, and rose again. Scripture calls us to believe something far more personal: that our old Adamic nature died with Him, was buried with Him, and that by believing in His resurrection, we too are “raised to walk in newness of life” (Romans 6:4). This is His requirement for true discipleship.

It is not difficult to believe that Christ existed or that He endured what Scripture records. “Even the devils believe…and tremble” (James 2:19). But Christ calls His followers to go all in—to lay everything on the line, to put real skin in the game. That means surrendering our old lives, ambitions, addictions, habits, and identities. He tells us to “count the cost” and see whether we are willing to undergo the spiritual growth process necessary to become like Him. Not merely improved versions of ourselves, but like Him.

We must first understand that when Christ expired on the cross, your sin nature and mine died with Him. That was us dying there. He took our sins upon Himself and, through death, eradicated them. All the sins of humanity—and the old nature that produced them—died when He died (Romans 6:1–15). This is precious knowledge, rarely heard in pulpits today.

Christ was buried, and with Him was buried every sin ever committed. Your sins, my sins, and the old nature that generated them were laid in that tomb.

And then Christ rose from the dead. But it was not only He who rose—we rose with Him. In His mercy, He provided a way for us to receive a new life before our physical bodies return to dust. He rose; we rise—by believing His word. He said it. He wrote it. Our task is to believe it.

So the issue is not merely believing that Christ rose. It is believing that we rose with Him. All we possess are His words, written nearly two millennia ago, promising this new life. Believing those words requires faith—trusting what we cannot yet see.

The Seed Germinates

When we truly believe in our own death, burial, and resurrection with Christ, the light of truth ignites within us. It is like a seed planted in the soil. The warmth of the sun and the moisture of the earth work together, and then a miracle occurs.

The seed ceases to exist in its former state. Its outer shell decays, returning to dust, while its hidden life breaks forth toward the light. So it is with God’s offspring. We are reborn like those garden seeds—by miracle.

The original spiritual Seed is the Word of God. Christ is the Author and Finisher of our faith. An author writes the script, and this Author wrote the play of Life by coming in flesh, giving Himself as a ransom, and embodying the Word on earth. That Word became the Seed. When we believe that Word—about Him and about our union with Him—we become “new creatures in Christ.” We become part of the divine drama. He is in us, enacting His love, which is the heart of the Script.

“Unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain” (John 12:24). Christ was that wheat seed. Had He not died, He would have remained alone. But by dying, He produced many grains—many sons and daughters in His likeness.

If a person refuses to die with Christ, he faces the lonely tomb of death. But if we choose His way, our old sinful heart dies, and we are freed from its tyranny. Once slaves to sin, we are now liberated.

Like that garden seed, through belief in the Word of promise, we rise with the Creator’s life surging through our new being.

Sprouted Wheat Becomes Grain

We, like freshly sprouted wheat, become potential grain the Master mills into flour for the spiritual “bread of life.” But we must grow to maturity—“first the blade, then the head, after that the full grain in the head” (Mark 4:28).

We are His seed, His children, destined to grow into His likeness and to be used in His purpose. If we are not growing, something is wrong.

To mature, we must “purge out the old leaven”—the false teachings handed down by well‑meaning people. We must “dig deep,” study His word diligently, and endure the opposition that will come, often from those closest to us.

This is the path of the Seed. This is the way of growth. This is how Christ reproduces Himself in His people.

—Kenneth Wayne Hancock

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May 11, 2024 · 10:30 am

God’s Will Is His Harvest

We have seen that Christ’s spiritual meat is spiritual food that gives him strength and power. His spiritual food is “to do the will of Him that sent [Christ] and to finish His work.” Doing the Father’s will is spiritual food for Christ and His body. It is what energizes Him.

 So, what is the Father’s will? “Will” is translated from the Greek word meaning “desire.” What are His desires? And how are we to be used by God to fulfill His desire, which is His will?

His Will, His Desire—The Harvest

Christ’s thoughts are about the harvest of souls that will populate His Kingdom.

We are working with Christ’s operative statement: “My food is to do the will of Him that sent me and to finish his work” (John 4:34). Christ in the very next verse tells us what the Father’s will is. It is to make sure that the harvest at the time of the end takes place. To insure it, He needs laborers.

His will is to harvest His seed, His promises, and His word. Christ speaks of the harvest: “Open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest.” Then He mentions the sowers and the reapers, which are to be taken spiritually and not literally. “I sent you to reap what you have not worked for.” Christ sends us to be reapers of precious souls in His harvest (4:35-38).

In the mind of Christ, He has sent us to reap what the patriarchs, prophets and apostles sowed in the earth. “One sows and another reaps is true,” He said. They sowed the seed of Yahweh’s creative genius in turning darkness into light. Pre-Adamites were scattered all over the earth. Yahweh then planted the seed of light by creating a new people—Adam and his offspring, about 6,000 years ago. The Bible is the story of how God used Adam and his seed to bring spiritual light to world.

Abraham, Isaac, Jacob/Israel, Joseph, Moses, the Judges, the prophets—they all sowed the seed while they looked forward to the promise of His harvest. God promised a new spiritual body upon His return to earth. These sowers labored under the old covenant, looking forward to our day of the new covenant. These sowers did not get to see the harvest. They now await the reapers—the elect, those chosen to serve in our end time era.

God has chosen us to be reapers. “I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor” (Jn. 6:38). [More about being “sent” later.]

God’s will is to bring all things to harvest at the time of the end. He desires to use his elect to be the laborers in that harvest. “Time” is the key to understanding His will. The Father has a timetable for everything. He has a time for the harvest of souls. He has called and now chosen certain people to be used as laborers in his harvest. They are the sons and daughters of God, shining forth as lights, exposing a present, crooked, and dark world.

The old patriarchs and prophets longed for our day. They died in faith but did not receive the promise. And that promise is eternal life in a new spiritual body, living in New Jerusalem. That promise includes living in the Kingdom of God that shall never be destroyed (Heb. 11:39).

End Time Reapers—A Special Relationship

The saints of old were the sowers of Yahweh’s plan; we have been chosen to be the reapers of His harvest. The reapers hold a special place in God’s will. Christ spells it out clearly: “And this is the will of Him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those He has given me but raise them up at the last day. For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day” (Jn. 6:39-40).

He will raise us up to reap souls for His kingdom. We can look into the future to see what the reaping is about. It is found in Matthew 9:35-38: Christ was teaching and preaching the kingdom of God and healing all who came to Him. “But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd. Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the laborers are few. Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth laborers into his harvest.” It is all about the harvest. Christ’s mind was on the Father’s will, which is praying and asking God to raise up laborers.

The Father’s will is that Christ will lose none of us that the Father has given to Christ. The Father has given to Christ a set, certain amount of reapers for the harvest. God’s will/desire is that none will be lost. He will have His hand on us, leading and guiding us by the Spirit of truth, delivering us from danger, both spiritual and physical. For examples, look to the characters in the Bible and see how God protected them from Satan time and time again. God will do the same for us; He does not change.

This is what election is about. “If God be for us, who can be against us?” He knew us before we ever came onto this mortal plane. He has delivered us, gathering us up with a “strong hand and a stretched-out arm.” He helped our moms and dads, providing a path for us to enter the earth. He forgave our treachery and unbelief time and time again, using each sinful episode as a learning opportunity for us, readying us to be used—after true repentance—as one of His reapers in His long-awaited harvest.

There is much talk about what the will of God is. Here we have it straight out of the mouth of the Master Teacher Christ. Don’t know how or what to pray for? He commands us to pray that the Father will send more laborers into the harvest of souls. That is His thoughts on the matter. This is the truth and the way to have our prayers answered. “If we ask anything according to his will, he hears us” (I John 5:14). In agreement with His will. Now that we know exactly what His will is, we can confidently communicate with Him about His harvest and how He wants to use us.  

We now know what His will is. Our prayers to Him should be petitions that center in on His harvest. For that is His will; that is His desire. The Father is joyful when we talk to Him about the things He is thinking asbout. He will help us.

But who are these who He will raise up at the last day? Who will be His faithful reapers? Who will walk and labor alongside Christ? Those who have His vision will respond. They will come, for they have been sent to work in the fields of His harvest.    Kenneth Wayne Hancock

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August 28, 2023 · 2:20 pm

“Rich Men North of Richmond” Awakening—Habakkuk’s Vision of What Comes Next

(Journal entry, 2-22-03)

Oliver Anthony’s “Rich Men North of Richmond” has aroused the sleeping masses. Hearts are shaken, emotions are welling up in gratitude that someone out there has said what they are feeling.

There is a reason for this awakened response to this song. It is founded on scriptural themes. The prominent theme is the evilness of the rich men, the kings of the world system. The rich men will have their judgement in God’s good timing. The apostle James said of them, “Woe unto you rich men who heap treasure together for the last days” (5:3). All the while “they promise them liberty, but they themselves are the servants of corruption” (II Peter 2:19).

At his free concert, Oliver Anthony led off with a quote from David’s Psalm 37. Its main theme is trusting God, knowing that “Yahweh laughs at the wicked, for He knows their day is coming.” So, “do not fret because of evil men…for like the grass they will soon wither, like green plants they will soon die away” (37:1,13 NIV).

In lieu of all the pain in just surviving the system, to get to that spiritual state of trusting and not fretting, He says, “Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light” (Eph. 5:14).

All this notwithstanding, we His elect, we who are the called and chosen to be His mouth as watchmen, we must first awaken, yes. But we must rise from being spiritually dead. Remember Christ saying, “Let the dead bury the dead.” And then Christ will give us light. He is the light; His way, truth, and purpose we must learn. We must sit at the prophet’s feet and learn how Yahweh prepares us for the arduous tasks ahead after awakening from spiritual sleep.

The prophet is Habakkuk. Small book, seldom read. Through the prophet, Yahweh’s voice cries to us and lays the prophetical vision of how the awakening fits into Yahweh’s end time scenario. Let us let the Spirit through the pen of the prophet teach us how to be His watchmen.

Overview Chapter One

Habakkuk the prophet sees the following in a vision. He is crying out to Yahweh, wanting answers as to why the wicked hold all the power on earth. He is wondering why God does not pay the wicked back with what they deserve—punishment. It seems like God is letting evil doers get away with it (1: 2-4).

Yahweh answers Habakkuk’s pleas with more oppression! God is raising up the Babylonians to roll over God’s people Judah/Israel. The Babylonians were evil impetuous people, full of violence. Yet they are used by God to punish the children of Jacob/Israel, who have turned and served other gods (1:5-12).

Habakkuk says that God makes men as fishes. The Babylonians are like fishermen who catch men with their hooks and nets, which they worship as gods. The Babylonians offer “sacrifices unto their net and burn incense unto their drag.” They worship their gods that can “catch” men like a fish. “Sacrifices” and “incense” are symbols for religious worship. So, Babylonian worship straight out of “Mystery Babylon the Great” is the false world system and its false doctrines of the religious denominations. These false doctrines are what catches people like fish. The false political and religious system gathers men like a net gathers together fish. This “net” “slays nations” (1:17)

And yet, Habakkuk was brought to realize that it was Yahweh who was raising the Babylonian army up. He was allowing them to prosper at the expense of His chosen people who had sinned against Him. This is what Habakkuk could not understand.  

This dominance of the world system over all of us is the Babylon of our day. Yahweh could destroy it today. Of course, He has that power. We like Habakkuk wonder, “How long, O Lord, must I call for help, but you do not listen? Or cry out to you, “Violence!” but You do not save? Why do You make me look at injustice? why do you tolerate wrong? Destruction and violence are before me; there is strife, and conflict abounds. Therefore, justice never prevails. The wicked hem in the righteous, so that justice is perverted” (1:2-4). What a description of the world today!

The Babylonian net goes beyond just the Kingdom of Judah in 600 B.C. It prophetically reaches into our day, as the world system continues to slay nations and peoples. This is the spiritual prophetic context that the masses are awakening from.

Chapter Two

Habakkuk awakes unto this knowledge that God is allowing Babylon, the world system, to spread its degradation throughout the earth. And so, he says, I will watch, observe, and peer into the distance, to see what He will say to me concerning my lack of clear vision about Babylon’s dominance over God’s people. I will stand upon my watch…and will watch to see what He will say unto me, and what I shall answer when I am reproved (2:1).

But Yahweh answers, “Write the vision and make it plain upon tables” that whoever reads it–whoever understands the vision–may run. The vision is yet for an appointed time.” The “vision” shows the destruction of the rich men who control the world system. It also shows the revealing of the “manifestation of the sons of God” and their part in God’s scenario. It also shows what shall happen to the whole earth and all the nations upon it.

For the revelation [vision] awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay. (2:3). The vision shows us the end of evil and the evil rich who destroy men’s souls. Justice will be served upon them at the “appointed time.” The vision will come on time. What is meant to happen to man and the earth is what God has foreordained, and it shall come to pass exactly when God plans it. And the righteous man will live by faith, not by sight. We shall continue in God’s plan though we cannot see with our eyes the end fruit of God’s doing. We will trust Him, though His thoughts are not our thoughts.

The rest of Chapter Two describes the reach of the rich men. Mystery Babylon uses wine [doctrines] and wealth [deceitfulness] to deceive the nations. Chapter Two is a description of those whom the devil controls.

The Book of Habakkuk correlates with Revelation 18 and should be studied together. In Chapter 18 we see the fall of the world system at the time of the end. It shows the rich men mourning their losses of all that they merchandized in: Everything fine like “gold, silver, precious stones” and all the beautiful, exquisite things, “and souls of men.” The rich men of the earth have bought and sold the souls of the masses! At the appointed time, they will lose it all in one hour! Rejoice over her, you holy apostles and prophets, for God has avenged you on her [the world system] (18:16-20).

Chapter Three

The vision of the destruction of the rich men and their desire to dethrone God is given. It reaches through 2600 years to our day. It is a far-reaching prophetical vision. It is a prayer request for God to do his work here on earth, putting an end to the evilness as outlined in Chapter One and Two. Even after hearing God speak of what shall take place, even after knowing what God will do, even after Habakkuk expresses longings for God’s wrath on the evil ones–it still is a fearful thing to him. In fact, Habakkuk pleads, “In wrath remember mercy.”

The vision then is a vision of Yahweh’s wrath that He will exact on the inhabitants of earth! It is a vision that is to take place in the latter days. It will be at the “time of the end” of this present world system as outlined in Revelation. At that time the vision will speak. The events of the time of the end will scream out to the elect and will let them know. The events that enfold during the latter days will not lie to us; they will fulfill exactly what He always said would happen (v. 3).

The “Rich Men” song has done a good job of awakening the masses as to the problem of the rich persecuting the middle classes and the poor. First, one must wake up and see who your enemy is.  Awake thou that sleepest. Then one must turn to God and repent of their sins, letting their old self die with Christ on the cross. Rise from the dead and begin to follow the King Christ who will teach us the deep things that only the Light can give us. And Christ shall give thee light. The Light shines on us His purpose and plan and teaches us how to become His watchmen.

The “Rich Men North of Richmond” Awakening is a necessary first step. The people are waking up from the anesthesia of the kool aid fed to them by the rich men who own the world and billions of “the souls of men.” The prophet Habakkuk shows us that there are more steps that the Light will reveal to us…at the appointed time. Kenneth Wayne Hancock

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July 26, 2023 · 9:12 am

Forgiveness Is at the Heart of Repentance

(from Journal,  5-11-15)

Repentance is the first step on the path of righteousness. “Unless you repent you shall all likewise perish,” (Luke 13:5). Repentance is a grave concept, not to be misunderstood. A seeker of God must not get this wrong.

Nevertheless, the way to repentance is guided by the warm arms of forgiveness. For had not Christ forgiven us all, we would never be able to come to the altar of repentance from our sins.

Many believe that past sins are forgiven them by God, but they don’t believe that the sin nature within them—the old nature that produced the sin—is gone away for good. And therein lies the problem—the recurrence of sin in a person’s life. Why does sin keep cropping up? It is because of unbelief that our old sinful self has died with Christ on the cross. Through this unbelief, the old heart will still produce sin, the breaking of the Ten Commandments.

Sins Sent Away

The word “forgiveness” is translated from the Greek word aphiemi, a verb which means “to send away or depart.” Christ has sent our sins away.

We see this in the types and shadows of the old Mosaic law. One remembers how the Aaronic priest laid his hands on the scapegoat, transferring the people’s sins onto the goat. And then the goat was sent away into the wilderness, taking their sins with it. The scapegoat was a type of the Lamb of God “who takes away the sins of the world.” Christ had the heavy responsibility of being that Sacrifice. Christ took upon Himself all the sins of humanity. Shockingly for some, He died as a lost man that day; I say, in the similitude of a lost man. “For He was made to be sin for us who knew no sin that we might be made the righteousness of God in him” (2 Cor. 5:21).

He was our scapegoat offering. He has forgiven us in that He has sent our old selfish heart away. He is saying to us, Thy sins are forgiven. Your sins are sent away; they are departed and gone. They are no longer there. “Go and sin no more” (John 8:11).   

Forgiving the Debt

The Greek word translated “repentance” has another nuance of meaning. It means to “to forgive a debt.” When we owe someone money, for example, we have a debt until either it is paid or until the debt is forgiven. When forgiven, the debt is gone, poof! It is no longer a reality; it no longer exists.  

It is the same with the old heart that sins. That person has a debt to love his fellow man, for God has said, “Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law” (Rom. 13:8 NIV). That is our debt: to love our neighbor as ourselves.

And yet, sin is the opposite of love, and it resides in unregenerated man. These are those that Christ has commanded us to love. We are to love the unlovable, those who have hurt us. We love them by forgiving them. This is how our debt is paid.

But our debt can never be paid by trying to do good works in our own strength. Yahweh takes away our sin through the sacrifice of His Son. We can repent through His grace to us.  This happens when we identify our sinful nature with Christ. Then the sin dies with Christ, and by belief/faith in His resurrection in us, we now walk in a “newness of life” (Rom. 6:4).

Once this revelation sinks in, then we can say as Paul did that it is no longer I that lives but Christ that lives in me (Gal 2:20). We need only read and believe Romans 6:1-15 and not question it.

When we do this, the sin will depart forever. The debt is paid. Our sins are forgiven. For good. All gone. Departed. Christ is big enough to make this happen. No more sin in our lives. It is a wondrous thing. This is His doctrine, and it is astonishing!

Kenneth Wayne Hancock

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June 30, 2023 · 9:56 am

Forgetting, Reaching Forth, and Pressing

The mind is a funny thing. It seems to have its own, well, mind. It seems to have a keen desire to dwell on the past—either to lounge in nostalgia or shudder in regret and shame.

We will never be transformed into the image of the invisible Yahweh if we dwell on our past actions. As long as guilt, regret, and shame are the fruit of the garden of our minds, we will never bear the “much fruit” that Christ foresees for us.

That is why our Father has provided the way to put a finality to all sins, faults, and recriminations sourced from our old lives. This finality Christ has already done for us at the cross. When we acknowledge and believe that our old selfish nature died with Christ, then we are freed from all negativity and become new creatures in Him.

This is the preliminary step that triggers not only real spiritual growth, but also clarifies our minds today as we walk with Him. The cross experience is the end of our old adamic nature; it also is our beginning a new life when we believe that we are raised from the dead with Christ.

Remembering these things cleanses our mind. It is deliberately thinking on things that are true, honest, just, pure, lovely, of good report, virtuous and praiseworthy, “think on these things. Those things, which you have both learned and received and heard and seen in me [Paul], do, and the God of peace shall be with you” (Phil. 4:8-9). It is thinking on His eternal purpose that will drive our mind’s thoughts out of the  garden of our mind.

This subject is the lifeforce of the apostle Paul’s being. In all humility, he knew that he was not “there” yet. He, therefore said, “but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus [Yahshua]”. Forget the past and embrace the things to come in the future. That’s past and future.

What about the present? What do we do now? We keep on pressing; keep on growing spiritually through studying the apostles’ doctrine, through adding the seven attributes of the Spirit to our faith, and obeying Christ’s New Commandment to love like He loves. Doing all these is how we love Him. We must “cast our care on Him.” We do this by caring about what He cares about. It is all about Christ.    Kenneth Wayne Hancock

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February 27, 2022 · 3:29 pm

I Have Chosen You

Chosen to Be Free from Sin

As Christians, God has chosen us “to proclaim liberty to the captives and the opening of the prison to them that are bound” (Isa. 61:1). That is our goal.

“I have chosen you.” These are Christ’s very words. And we need to decide right now if we believe these words. If we do not believe them, then, like in The Matrix, we can go back to the inevitable, heart-sickening drone of our old lives, never to sniff the sweet air of freedom…

Somebody just squeaked up in back. “I am already free,” they say quite indignantly.

Really? Free? Everybody quotes John 8:32: “You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” But very few know what the “truth” is or how it frees you. Everybody seems to have their own “truth” and their own definition of “free.” So, I must ask: Free from what exactly? What was Christ talking about here?

He answers our questions two verses later. “Whosoever commits sin is the slave of sin” (8:34). [Sin is breaking the Ten Commandment law [1 John 3:4]. He who sins is the slave; he is the one who is not free. He is the one who obeys the old sinful nature’s commands.

The truth that makes us free from sin  

Christ is talking about being made free from sin and sinning. Sin is the slave master of him who sins. And, “No man can serve two masters…” (Matt. 6:24).  It is the truth that shall make them free.

So, what is the truth that frees someone from sinning? Christ said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6). He is the Truth, the Deliverer and Savior, and He has provided the way to put an end to sin in a person’s life, thereby making them free. That is good information. But how does Christ make us free from sin?

Through either ignorant or uninformed preachers and pastors, the church has foolishly perverted the truth that will deliver the sinner.  Preachers proclaim that they “sin every day”! They say, “I am a sinner saved by grace.” And, sure enough, they continue sinning. Worse yet, they teach their congregations that they will always sin. According to Christ’s words, which they claim to go by every word, they are telling them that they will always be in bondage to sin, that they will always be a slave.

Pastors need to teach their flocks this truth

Here is the truth that “makes us free,” written down for us by our apostle Paul: “For we know that our old self was crucified with Him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin—because anyone who has died has been freed from sin (Romans 6:6-7  NIV).

When Christ died, our old self died! When He was buried, our old self was buried. And when He was raised from the dead, so were we. And Christ gave us a new heart, a heart that is free. We are freed from sin and sinning, folks! It is already done; we just need to believe it! This truth will transform your life. It will slay the old dragon Sin and place Christ seated on the throne of your heart. This is the truth that Christ was talking about, the truth that makes us free! “Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him” (v. 8).

The Missing Ingredient

What is the missing ingredient that makes all this happen? It is faith. Belief. Believing without concrete visible evidence. It is believing His word when He says that our old sinful life is dead and gone. Our belief starts when we reckon it so. We must reckon our old spiritual nature dead. This is not a natural death of the earthly body. “Reckon you also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Rom. 6:11).

To complete our initial spiritual transformation, we count (reckon) ourselves to be “buried with him in baptism, wherein also you are risen with Him through the faith of the operation of God, who has raised Him from the dead” (Colossians 2:12). HalleluYah!

This is the truth! But they will not believe this truth that frees them from sin and sinning. They do not believe that anyone can do what Christ and his apostles say we can do! They don’t understand that it is the Spirit of Christ that lives within us now. We could not walk a righteous life before. Now it is Christ who lives within us. This is repentance from sin, the first of the seven doctrines of Christ and His apostles. [Order my book The Apostles’ Doctrine, free with free shipping. You need it. It gives much more information. Info here: https://immortalityroad.wordpress.com/donate ].

Oh, that the pastors and preachers all over the world could get this message! Then they could free the precious members of their congregations, who are slaves and don’t even know it.

But a few will respond. Would you help me get this message out to a preacher or pastor or someone hungering for the truth—truth that will make them free from sin? You can share this article with anyone and everyone on any platform. Let us become the “fishers of men” by casting the truth out into the sea of mankind, thus giving the people a chance at freedom.

I’m talking about freeing the slaves with the truth. The truth is Christ’s life now residing in our hearts. There’s no greater calling than to be used by Christ to free the captives.

“I have chosen you.” He has chosen you to share the truth that will make the people free from sin. And he has “ordained (appointed) you, that you should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain” (John 15:16).

What kind of fruit is He talking about? It is the good fruit that we bear after our cross and resurrection experience. (Matthew 7: 18).

“I have chosen you and appointed you to bear fruit”

Understanding His message in Romans 6 is believing Him when He declares, “I have chosen you.” His chosen ones are not slaves to sin. They have been made free by knowing the truth of Christ’s death, burial and resurrection in us.

One caveat: The people do not believe they are slaves to sin, and they will fight you all the way. But they are really fighting Christ. So, “do not be dismayed at their faces”.

Kenneth Wayne Hancock

[What do you believe Romans 6 to mean? What are your thoughts about the truth that Christ spoke of? Make a comment, share and hit that like button if you appreciate the content.]

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February 21, 2022 · 2:26 pm

Chasing Your First Experience with Christ

Many young Christians get entangled in the trappings of the first flush of Christian love that they experience. Christ’s amazing, selfless love many times overpowers them. They experience tremendous joy and love. And then, a bit later, the rush of that first, fine feeling of the love from above subsides and seemingly leaves them.

Instead of seeking more of His plan and purpose and seeking the “unsearchable riches of Christ,” the babe in Christ stays there in that congregation or circle, glued to a belief that if they stay right there, the Spirit will return and give them that same feeling again, just like what happened before. It is as if they are a prisoner of their own experience with God; it is just the first step.

I am not putting anyone down here. I speak from personal experience. A babe in Christ is like the thrill seeker going after that first high. But that first experience with God is when He calls us. The second will not be like the first. They don’t realize that spiritually young children of God are mostly alive to what they can receive of the Father. It is not about us feeling good. It is about His Spirit growing in us and manifesting His love through us. The rest of the journey is about how God works out His growth within us

In the above scenario, we see a picture of a child of God, a “babe in Christ.” They are held in the “play pen” of the music and activities of the church house or the study group. The pastors and teachers do not feed them with “the sincere milk of the word that they may grow thereby.” They learn about Christ having existed and some of the things that He did. They are not taught about how His Spirit grows and lives in us. They are not taught the “cross experience” (Romans 6) whereby we are crucified with Christ, which allows our old sinful nature to perish through belief in Christ’s death and resurrection. This is the seed beginning of His growth in us. And without this knowledge, “babes in Christ” will wither on the vine. Their pastors and teachers will be held accountable.

God wants us all to grow, and we cannot grow like He wants us to grow spiritually if we persist in trying to recapture those first few experiences that God called us with. Paul said that we must leave them in order to grow to full potential. “But this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 3: 13-14). The “high calling” is not being a child of God; it is becoming a manifested son and daughter of the living God.  God wants us all to grow up spiritually and become like the early apostles and prophets.

Kenneth Wayne Hancock

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October 8, 2016 · 5:05 pm

Resurrection of the Dead–Apostles’ Doctrine #5

Vital for Today’s Church

The apostles’ doctrine was the teachings that the early church walked in. Many Christians want what they had, but few in the pews (or pulpits, for that matter) know what those teachings are (Acts 2: 42).

In fact, some will say, We don’t want doctrine; we just want Jesus. Newsflash: You can’t have Jesus without His teachings. For the word for “doctrine” in the Greek means “teachings.” As the apostle states: “Whoever transgresses and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have God. He who abides in the doctrine of Christ has both the Father and the Son” (2 John 9). So the doctrine of Christ is vitally important.

And His teachings are plainly listed in the scriptures: repentance from dead works, faith toward God, doctrine of baptisms, laying on of hands, resurrection of the dead, eternal judgement, and perfection (Heb. 6: 1-2). Of course, there are seven of them.

The Resurrection of the Dead

To understand this teaching, we need to remember two things. First, there can obviously be no resurrection without a death. Self-preservation is built into a mortal’s DNA. We want to live forever, but our longings for immortality exist in a clay body that will die. So, ironically, the immortality that we long for will only come as a result of our inevitable death.

We cannot prevent our own demise. We need a Savior. We need One who understands, who has conquered death. We need someone to take our hand and lead us through this minefield of mortality and across the river of death to the green fields of everlasting life. We have that Savior who has tasted death for every man and woman. We see Him now, “who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that He by the grace of God should taste death for every man” (Heb. 2: 9).

Second, in this doctrine there are several distinct types of resurrection. We have Christ’s bodily resurrection without which there would be no other resurrections. There is the spiritual side of His resurrection that provides our spiritual resurrection while still in these earthly bodies. There is the resurrection of the souls that lead into “eternal judgment.” And there is the resurrection and restoration of the House of Israel (12 tribes)–the dry bones of Ezekiel receiving life after so long a time. And then there is when we receive our immortal spiritual bodies at the end of this age.

Our Individual Spiritual Resurrection

This spiritual resurrection comes when we believe the following: He took upon Himself our sin, and when He died on the cross, it was our sinful old self dying with Him. Then we believe that we are buried with Him. And when we believe that He rose from the dead, we, too, receive a spiritual resurrection inside our current mortal bodies. We through faith and belief do now walk in “a newness of life.” He provides a new heart and a new spirit through faith where “all things are become new” (Romans 6: 1-11; Gal. 2: 20; Col. 2: 11).

His resurrection provides the way for our spiritual resurrection in Him. For by faith we have now received His Spirit. We are now “sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest (down payment) of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession” (Eph. 1: 13-14).

What “possession”? Us. We are bought with a price–His blood. He owns us. What “promise”? He has promised us that He would grant us everlasting life if we go with Him on this great spiritual adventure. Immortality is our “inheritance.” He is our Redeemer. He bought us out of the chains of sin and misery. We owe everything to the King.

It is this personal resurrection where we receive a new Spirit while still in these earthly bodies. This admits us into the receiving of our new spiritual bodies at the end of this age. Our earthly bodies can’t handle a fullness of the Spirit. God wants to reproduce Himself; that is His overriding purpose and plan. And He cannot do it in us as long as we are in these mortal bodies. “Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.” There’s that “inheritance” we talked about. Our inheritance is immortality. But we cannot receive it as long as we are in these aging, decaying, curruptible earthly bodies. We need a new spiritual body, a new wineskin, to contain the new wine of His spiritual fullness. Read I Corinthians 15; 35-58, the resurrection chapter, with new eyes. And rejoice knowing that in Him it is all worthwhile. For “Death is swallowed up in victory.”

In the end, these old decaying and aging earthly bodies have got to go. They must die in order to fulfill God’s purpose. He is reproducing Himself–in us.  This is the key to understanding everything else.

[I understand that the riches of His teachings are unsearchable. We haven’t even scratched the surface of the depth and breadth of His doctrine. I am humbled in this attempt to put into English a tiny bit of them. It will take us ages to search His treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Perhaps that is why He is granting us everlasting life].

Kenneth Wayne Hancock

 

 

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May 28, 2016 · 10:39 pm

Connecting the Dots–Starting With Agape Love

Revelation comes from the Spirit of Truth connecting dots–in us. The  “dots” are statements of truth found in the written word.

Anyone who has a Bible can memorize passages of scripture. But it is only the Holy Spirit that leads us into all truth (John 16: 13). And He leads us into more and more revelatory truth by tying things together–“…line upon line…precept upon precept.”

It has been said before and we all should take heed: If we are not receiving more and more truth and light in our Christian walk, then one of two things is happening. Either we have all the truth already or the Holy Spirit is not guiding us “into all truth.” I believe that it is the latter.

Only God can make the light bulbs come on, and He does it by connecting the dots of truth together into a bright wall of meaningful light, a light of Love.

Take the divine council of Yahweh that we see in the book of Job 1 and 1 Kings 18: 20-23. Upon seeing this we ask, What is the significance of this for my life right now?

Then other scriptures come to mind, tying in with them. We remember Peter miraculously being broken out of jail by an angel of God (Acts 12: 5-17). Peter was imprisoned by Herod. The church prayed for him, and God sent an angel that delivered him. Peter goes to the house where the body of Christ is praying for him. He knocks on the door. A young woman named Rhoda goes to the door, hears Peter’s voice, and turns and goes back and tells everyone that Peter is at the door. They, knowing the severity of Herod’s prison say, You are crazy. That could not be Peter; it is his angel (v. 15).

Connecting the Dots

Peter’s angel? There is deep truth here in Acts 12; we need to connect the dots. They did not believe that Peter could escape Herod’s prison. So in their minds there was only one explanation: The personage at the door had to be Peter’s angel. I mean, if it walks like Peter and sounds like Peter, and if Peter, who was with Christ for 3 1/2 years, is in Herod’s prison, then it must be Peter’s angel.

Why would they say that? There must have been a current teaching in the  early church that we don’t have today, saying that members of Christ’s church have a heavenly counterpart that can visit the earth. Each member has a heavenly spiritual body that looks and sounds like them and that can visit earth–an angel, if you will. [Wow. That just gave me a shiver.]

If this is not the case, then why did they think it and say it? They thought it and said it because they were taught it by the apostles and teachers in the body right after the resurrection. I know of no denominations that teach that. So either the early church was in error or today’s churchianity is. Very few Christians are going to take that leap. Why won’t they? Because their church don’t teach it.

Yet the apostle Paul confirms the above by speaking  about the two bodies that we have–an earthly one and an eternal heavenly one (II Cor. 5: 1). He calls it our “house which is from heaven.” The Spirit through him also writes that “there are also celestial bodies and bodies terrestrial” (I Cor. 15: 40).

Most preachers won’t touch this for fear of being ostracized by their denomination and congregation. They just won’t connect the dots–not on this one.

Can’t Help But Wonder

The question arises: If it be so that our spiritual body was in heaven with God before our life on earth began, then why should we have this earthly experience? Why go through all the pain and suffering? What is the point? Why could we not have just lived in our heavenly bodies, happy ever after?

This is an age-old question. Knowing His purpose gives us the answer. He desires to reproduce Himself–agape Love. Knowing this is the starting gate of all understanding and knowledge. To duplicate, to multiply, to reproduce Himself, sufferings must come to the vessels He is using for His reproduction. That’s us. We need to get over it; we are being used by Him. We must endure human sufferings, for they are the only experience that will shape and mold us into vessels of agape Love and mercy.

God cannot reproduce Love (Himself) without suffering. Suffering with Him is the crucible that forges us into becoming His kings and queens, vessels fit to reign. The scriptures declare as much. You have read them: “If we suffer, we shall also reign with Him…Joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with Him, that we may be glorified together…Think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: but rejoice as you are partakers of Christ’s sufferings…” (II Tim 2: 12; Rom. 8: 17; I Pet. 4: 12-13). Paul welcomed sufferings knowing that they were his calling card to God’s throne room.

But human sufferings make no sense without the knowledge of His eternal purpose of reproducing Himself (Love). When we believe that they are a necessary to fulfill His purpose, then the sufferings become more comprehensible.

The only reason that Christianity has worked in the hearts of men for the past 2000 years is because of Christ’s love shown to human beings through Him sacrificing Himself for others. He said, “Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends” (John 15: 13). He did not just say it; he did it.

That kind of love breaks up a hard heart. In our first earthly Adamic sinful state, we got beat up by others, betrayed and abused. And as a defense mechanism, we hardened ourselves and grew cynical. If we ever thought of God, we more than likely blamed Him for our spiritually destitute condition.

It was only the greatest love–the love that lays down his life for another–that will melt a cold bitter heart. That kind of Love is God, and He wants to sow it as a seed into the earth–through us. As we lay down our lives for others in following Him, the seed of agape love is sown into the hearts of other human beings. And that love for Him and His people will grow and grow, and it will become a great harvest of love in the earth at the end of the age. It will grow until Love “is all in all.”

God’s unselfish love in laying down His life is the first dot that we need to connect from. And the second is us laying down our lives for others. We are the offspring of Love and Light. In Him we are the light of the world, making manifest His Love to the world by letting love shine selflessly.

The Seed is the Love that we find in Christ, our example. And that Seed of Love is now within us, and we now have become the sower of that seed in the parable of the sower (Mt. 13). He now through us His body is sowing His love abundantly for the abundant harvest coming soon.

{Don’t sit on this article; share it.}

Kenneth Wayne Hancock

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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